U.S. Army All-American Bowl

2015 U.S. ARMY ALL-AMERICAN BOWL WEST HOLDS ON TO DEFEAT THE EAST, 39-36

SAN ANTONIO, TX (January 3, 2015) – U.S. Army soldiers and football fans alike packed the Alamodome to watch the contest between the East and West squads playing in the 15th anniversary of the Nation’s premier high school All-American game – the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Led by quarterback Brady White, the West team was stagnant on their first drive resulting in a 3 and out. After a big punt return from Powder Springs, GA native TJ Rahming, Ohio State bound quarterback Torrance Gibson had two third down conversions that was capped off by Rodrigo Blankenships’ 34 yard field goal.

After a fumble by Chris Warren on the West team’s next drive that began on the 5 yard line, Salt Lake City, UT native Osa Masina jumped on a loose football fumbled by East running back Jordan Scarlett on the first play in the red zone.
Travis Waller took over the West squad’s second drive that began at their own 5 yard line. After a 13 yard scamper for a first down, Waller found Louisiana native and LSU bound running back Derrius Guice over the middle for a 92 yard touchdown pass.

The second quarter was dominated by the West team. Arizona State bound quarterback Brady White zipped a pass to Derrick Dillon that resulted in a 25 yard touchdown that gave the West a 13-3 lead. But it did not stop there. Back-to-back pick six’s in the red zone by linebackers Ben Humphreys and Porter Gustin gave the West a 27-3 lead with 6 minutes remaining in the second quarter.

The West team continued their onslaught as USC commit and California native quarterback Ricky Town hit Derrius Guice for a 61 yard pass and Guice’s second receiving touchdown of the game and gave the West a 33-3 lead with one minute left in the half. East coaches drew up a trick play that let wide receiver Deon Cain launch a long ball to fellow wide receiver Lawrence Cager heading into halftime. The first half ended with the West ahead 33-9.

The East team came out of the locker room eager to get some momentum going their way to start the third quarter on offense as quarterback Torrance Gibson came out firing the ball downfield. The drive stalled and quickly came to an end as the dominant West defense recovered a fumble around midfield. The first West drive of the second half was capped by Kevin Robledo’s field goal that added to their lead and made the score 36-9 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter began with East quarterback Sam Darnold leading the charge. Darnold was able to sling a ball to TJ Rahming over the middle for a 63 yard score that cut the deficit to 21. After a failed two point conversion, the East was able to recover an onside kick to try and mount a comeback.

For the second time today, East coaches drew up a wild triple reverse pass that left TJ Rahming wide open on the sideline with a convoy of East lineman that led him right to the endzone for a score and made it a two possession game with seven minutes left.

After an interception on the first play of the West drive by Tarvarus McFadden, the East answered the call as Missouri bound quarterback Drew Lock found Deon Cain on the first play deep downfield for a score that made the game 36-29 with the West ahead with five minutes remaining.

The East was not ready to be finished yet. Following a Kevin Robledo field goal that extended the West lead to 10, East cornerback Tarvarus McFadden returned a kick to the house that cut the lead to 3 with under 2 minutes left in the game.

The West got the ball back and ate a minute of clock up but was stuffed by a dominant East defensive line on a 4th and 1 and the East took over on downs with 30 seconds left. The East team’s incredible comeback was stopped by an attempt to go deep on fourth down with 20 seconds left.

LSU-bound running back Derrius Guice took home the game’s MVP award following a record-setting 153 receiving yards – which included a 92-yard touchdown, also a Bowl record – with 2 touchdowns as the West defeated the East with a final score of 39-36.